The most powerful concept to understand about money is the Theory of the Marching Dollars.  If you imagine your money as an army of little soldiers marching into battle, always moving, always growing always advancing, moving forward towards your goals, then you have grasped the fundamental concept of saving money.  When you save money, you are building your army of Marching Dollars.  Adding new recruits on a regular basis.  Providing food and water to keep them moving.  If you cannot save money, you cannot build your army of Marching Dollars.  You cannot invest those dollars to make them grow faster.  You are defenseless, helpless in the face of the enemy.  What is the enemy?  The great Plague of the Spender.  The Plague can wipe out your army at any time.  You must be watching all the time.  Saving money is really twofold:  adding dollars to your army and avoiding the Plague of the Spender! Of course, the movies are made to make money.  The cost of movies and going to see them are rising each year.  However, the same concepts that are discussed below are part of every movie: Determining the net worth, creating a budget and the ongoing saving discipline by setting and sticking to priorities. 

Movies are a business and you need to treat your own personal finances the same way.  Do you want your life to be over budget, self-indulgent and a box office flop?  Or do you want your life to be a clever, independent flick that scored big at the box office and made a profit.  It is your life and you are the movie producer that controls it all.  Control costs, maximize revenue and market yourself to the world.

Before you start, you may want to watch Lost In America, an inspirational lesson on building a nest egg and then blowing it all and having to start all over again.  It is a fun movie full of laughs and irony, from Albert Brooks heading out on the road in his RV to Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild to the desperate job hunt that lands him a plum crossing guard gig.  Go thou and do not do likewise.  However, they do calculate their net worth, set a budget and start out right...

Do you know your net worth?

There is nothing more critical to saving than knowing how much money you have.  Can you add up all your assets, subtract your liabilities and calculate your net worth, your savings minus your debts?  Is it positive? 

Can you control your savings by following these 3 simple rules?

1. Don't buy anything on impulse without a three day "cooling off" period.  If you still want it after three days and your budget will allow it, then go ahead.

2. Know how much things cost.  This requires comparison shopping on price and quality in order to make sure you are getting the best price for your purchase.

3. Buy what you MUST and prioritize what you NEED.  The MUST items are essential for daily living.  The NEED items are "nice to have" but you can live without.  Rank the NEED items in priority and buy as your budget permits.